Musk Pours $76 Million Into Midterms as Texas Senate Race Heats Up

Elon Musk has injected a massive financial boost into the final phase of the midterm elections.

According to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday evening, Musk contributed over $76 million to his personal political committee, America PAC, during the first two weeks of October. The filing indicates that the group spent nearly $43 million in that period while entering the final stretch of the campaign with nearly $47 million in cash reserves.

The Texas Senate race consumed the largest portion of this new funding. The committee allocated $15.2 million to the contest, a figure that is double the amount spent in that state during the summer. Of that total, $12.4 million was used to attack Democratic candidate James Talarico, while $2.8 million went toward promoting Republican challenger Ken Paxton. Subsequent daily filings reveal an additional $9.1 million spent against Talarico, bringing the total expenditure against him this cycle to nearly $28 million. This sum represents approximately 40 percent of all funds the PAC has deployed for candidates or issues this year.

The committee has also shifted its advertising strategy significantly toward digital platforms. In the same two-week period, America PAC spent $11.4 million on online advertisements. This amount is nearly equal to the combined total spent on traditional mail and text messaging campaigns. Overall, Musk has donated more than $445 million to Republican political groups in this election cycle, a figure confirmed by an analysis of FEC records. This makes him the largest known individual donor in the midterms. Since July alone, more than $165 million has flowed to America PAC. The committee did not respond to requests for comment.

Musk, whose companies Tesla and SpaceX are based in Texas, has actively engaged in the race through social media. On Wednesday, he posted on X that there is something deeply wrong with Talarico. He later referred to the candidate as a creep and claimed, without providing evidence, that Talarico would vote to take away children and transition them. Earlier in the month, Musk amplified a false claim that Talarico had been treated at a mental health facility. Talarico responded quickly, stating that there is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal US Senator.

Despite the heavy spending, the Texas race remains closely contested. An Emerson College poll of 1,000 likely Texas voters, conducted from October 17 to 19, found Talarico leading by two points. The Democrat held 48 percent support compared to Paxton’s 46 percent, which falls within the poll’s three-point margin of error.

The outcome of these elections carries significant implications for Musk beyond the state lines. If Democrats secure the House, committee leaders have indicated they will investigate his role in the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE. They also plan to examine federal contracts held by his companies and what California Democrat Zoe Lofgren described as an astounding number of conflicts of interest. A unified Democratic control of Congress would present even greater challenges for the billionaire.

Silicon Valley Democrats have added another specific target to their scrutiny list. On Friday, they sent a letter to the White House demanding an investigation into restrictions on SpaceX’s Starshield satellite service in Ukraine. Representatives Sam Liccardo, Jimmy Panetta, and Ro Khanna signed the letter, vowing that the next Congress will closely scrutinize federal funding awarded to Musk’s businesses.